Bone and blood vessels: the hard and the soft of hematopoietic stem cell niches.

Abstract

Osteoblasts are important regulators of myelopoiesis and lymphopoiesis, producing several necessary soluble and membrane-associated factors. In addition, they may play important roles, along with other mesenchymal populations, in constructing an environment that is suitable for development of sinusoidal niches capable of supporting hematopoietic stem cells.